Nicolas Batum

Nicolas Batum
SG/SF – 6’8, 200lbs - 29 years old - 10 years of experience

Missing the beginning of the season with injury, Batum came back after a month and yet still looked injured. At times he looked barely like a rotation player, let alone a max player. The partial salvation came from a strong mid-Feb/mid-March run in which he looked like his former self. But the aim for this season was quite a bit more than “one good month”.

Batum’s shot was off all year, consistent with a bad elbow, even if it was his non-shooting arm. That should come back with better health. And he retains his excellent passing vision and playmaking for a wing out of pick-and-roll situations. Yet the lack of shooting makes for a problem when Batum, never an aggressive offensive player aside for a strange affinity for turnaround jumpers, is not able to hit what little he does take. This season, he was a feeder of the post and spot-up guy who couldn’t spot up. And most worryingly of all was his defence – Batum didn’t keep anyone in front of him all year, or so it feels.

Put simply, this marriage needs counselling. Batum is entering his prime years on a massive contract after a career-worst season, a potent triumvirate of concerns that make a player unmovable. He thus needs to rebuild his career and his value here. If the team truly does opt for a more pace-and-space, movement-heady unit going forward, then this should benefit Batum, a heady and versatile player with plenty of talent. It might also benefit to get him back to the small forward position full time, where he should be better defensively.

Either way, give him a chance. The Hornets cannot afford to move him when his value is so low.

Player Plan: Three years and $76,695,651 remaining, the last of which is a player option. Heck of a lot of money for a 1.7 VORP. The value will increase and the burden will lessen as the contract gets shorter. He may also play better in the interim. So keep for now, unless somehow able to move him on to someone else who is not placing much value on this past season of play.

Nic Batum
SG/SF, 6’8, 200lbs, 28 years old, 9 years of experience

A poor shooting season somewhat negated the otherwise strong overall contributions. A career worst 40.2% FG and a career second-worst .529% true shooting percentage was born out of a streakiness that affect-ed the whole roster, and Batum especially. Still, on a team limited for playmakers and distributors, Batum’s unselfishness, ability to make incisive extra passes and plays out of the pick-and-roll provide vital contribu-tions to an offensive team already overly reliant on Walker, and debilitatingly so without Batum. The two-man game with Zeller worked well, too, and was good for Zeller’s development. Batum’s contract is huge, especially for an increasingly ineffectual (and lazy) defensive player, and it prevents any trade value. But that is a problem for down the road. For now, he is needed.

Player Plan: Hugely expensive four years and almost $100 million remaining. Not a $100 million player, but moving him now would be a loss-making move, so keep indefinitely.